CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina coach Roy Williams reiterated that point guard Ty Lawson needs to be able to practice today and Wednesday in order to play in Thursday’s NCAA first round game against Radford. But even if he does, the speedy junior won’t be 100 percent.
“I don't know if I'd say the rest of the tournament, but there's no way guys he's going to be 100 pct [Thursday],’’ Williams said. “Absolutely no way. He hasn't played basketball ... in nine days. He hasn't broken a sweat in nine days. There's no way. It just does not happen. Guys can miss two or three days, Michael Jordan can have the flu, but nobody misses that amount of time and comes back 100 pct. ... His foot is not healthy. It's a pretty easy deal. It's frustrating for us to say the least.”
Lawson jammed his right big toe on March 6th, started the Duke game on March 8, then missed both games of the ACC tournament. The junior said then that he could have played had they been NCAA tournament games, but only if the toe was numbed. Lawson said Saturday he would “definitely” be ready to play Thursday, but Williams is not so sure.
“Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I really expected it to respond quicker than it has,’’ Williams said. “And after he had played against Duke, I didn't really expect … that much swelling to happen. That’s what really set everything backward. I guess I've been a little surprised at the severity of it. I've just been thinking it every day, ‘it's going to get better, it's going to get better,’ but I'm probably as discouraged right now at this moment as I have been since it happened. It's not coming as quickly as we'd like for it to come.”
A UNC spokesman said there would not be an update on Lawson after today’s practice.
Robbi Pickeral has covered ACC sports for The News & Observer since 2003. She can be reached at 
Comments
Latest Report On Toe
Sat, 07/25/2009 - 22:34 — tonygreeneDoes anyone know if he's coming back for the next season or sitting out to rehab the toe better?
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Heel fans shouldn't have
Sun, 07/12/2009 - 20:01 — tonygreeneHeel fans shouldn't have anything to worry about. Especially since his toe is now on healing mode in the off-season.
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Fix the toe, Joe
Wed, 03/18/2009 - 09:10 — heelsno1If Lawson cannot go due to his toe,
then another Heel can seal the deal.
Roy's judgment
Tue, 03/17/2009 - 23:22 — devonmooreI'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion about Roy's decision to play Lawson against Duke. Roy rushed him back for that game, even numbing the foot so Lawson couldn't feel how the play was affecting it.
This is a team that had a great shot at a national championship, and because of a short sighted coaching decision may get knocked out of the NCAAs early. If Lawson doesn't recover quickly enough for UNC to make a serious run, Roy will have thrown away an opportunity that comes maybe once in a decade, even for a program like UNC.
Seriously, how often does a tandem like Hansbrough and Lawson come along, with a strong team around them and the experience to make a championship run?
I still need...
Tue, 03/17/2009 - 21:03 — jeromfitzanother drink! I can't take it anymore. I'm starting to have doubts about the whole situation at hand. Don't tell me I got to wait until next year in the first game or second game in the NCAAs. Lordy...I hope the Tar Heel fuel the fire...and cash it in from downtown like Lawson does at certain points in the game.
No more Toe updates?
Tue, 03/17/2009 - 19:40 — clarksa498What gives??? What's the latest???
Rest
Tue, 03/17/2009 - 19:28 — the_wb91jmac1966, if your team didn't even make the NIT try concentrating on that awesome Bass fishing team your school has. LOL. Idiot!
That's calling it an excuse for the Lakers not to win it all without Kobe, or Orlando without Howard. It is freaking obvious that UNC can't win it all if Lawson didn't play in the tourney. What this idiot fails to realize is just because something is an excuse doesn't mean it's not true. If I am always on time for work and I leave early but on my way to work my transmission dies and I get to work 30 mins late. My car dying is an excuse but is it not true?
Try again Farmboy.
The Toe
Tue, 03/17/2009 - 16:33 — jmac1966The Toe will the Caro-winer Boo Birds' latest excuse for not winning it all. I can't remember what the major excuse was last year. But I know the Boo Birds had one.
ToeCam
Tue, 03/17/2009 - 15:28 — DuvallHas the N&O looked into the possibility of attaching a webcam to Lawson's ankle so that we can get live toe updates at all times?
"The Toe"
Tue, 03/17/2009 - 15:19 — clarksa498It's been over 30min since the last update on "The Toe." Have you heard any more news since then?
So true
Tue, 03/17/2009 - 16:56 — rtarnowskiMaybe they could write about some big NCSU bball stories. Any more decommits lately? How about their next big matchup? Did the 2009-2010 schedule come out yet?
lawson
Tue, 03/17/2009 - 15:17 — george32longtime heel fans have to be having nightmares of late season injuries to point guards. deja vu all over again.
If he doesn't play Thursday,
Tue, 03/17/2009 - 15:07 — UNC1998no real problem. GT would take Radford to the wood shed. LSU might be a different story. Let's hope UNC is all they can be. They are the best chance for the ACC to win the national championship.
Lawson
Tue, 03/17/2009 - 14:50 — gullyIf I am an opposing coach, and Lawson is in the game, a good strategy would be to have my players aim for the big toe!